KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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Missouri lawmakers are putting forward efforts to restrict — and in some cases overturn — initiatives voters passed this November.
This year, voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring abortion rights and a proposition increasing the minimum wage.
Subsequently, a group of industry organizations filed a lawsuit asking the State Supreme Court to throw out the election results on the proposition.
When it comes to abortion rights, the attorney general is taking a stand in court about which laws the voter-approved constitutional amendment applies to.
One state senator proposed a bill for the 2025 legislative session that would put a question on an upcoming ballot for voters to overturn the abortion question they just approved.
"The League of Women Voters believes what the voters passed is what should stand — we'll do our part to fight for that," said Anne Calvert, president of the nonprofit's local chapter.
She said legislator opposition to initiative petitions is not new.
Voters overturned a measure making Missouri a Right-to-Work state in 2018. In 2020, voters approved medicaid expansion, but it didn’t take effect until after a State Supreme Court ruling in 2021.
Next week, Platte County commissioners plan to challenge a voter-approved sales tax to fund a child services fund.
The associate dean at University of Missouri — Kansas City’s school of law said friction between voters and lawmakers should be expected.
"Either your county legislators or your state legislators don't agree with you and you're trying to overcome that," Allen Rostron said. "It's natural that those legislators are not going to agree with what's in the ballot measure and that's why we get all these disputes."
Some lawmakers have considered changing the threshold for initiative petitions to pass in Missouri.
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